Pakistani policeman shoots dead blasphemer accused in detention

Islamabad - A Pakistani policeman shot dead a publisher accused of blasphemy and another person at a detention centre in the town of Kharian, about 125 south-east of the capital Islamabad, officials said on Saturday. The police constable gave himself in to his colleagues after the incident, the District Police Officer Ahsan Mehboob told the BBC Urdu Service. 'I have no regret over what I did,' said the police constable was quoted as saying. Publisher Mian Qasim was arrested last week along with three other people in a nearby city of Gujrat over charges of printing two books that contained derogatory remarks about the Muslim Prophet Mohammed. The author of the controversial books has already left the country, the police officials told the BBC. Several others accused of blasphemy have been murdered in police custody in previous years. In May 2004, a policeman shot dead a Christian held on the blasphemy charges. Human rights groups have criticized Pakistan's blasphemy laws because of proven cases where they were misused by Islamic fundamentalists to persecute religious minorities. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur